Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets scored 50 points, but it wasn’t enough as Stephen Curry led Golden State to the NBA victory.
Published October 24, 2025
On Aaron Gordon’s career night, Stephen Curry stole the show by doing what he often does.
Curry hit a game-tying 3-pointer late in regulation and scored 16 straight points for Golden State in the second half as the Warriors overcame Gordon’s 50-point night to defeat the Denver Nuggets 137-131 on Thursday night.
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Curry, who finished with 42 points, said, “It’s a playoff-like atmosphere where someone goes into an out-of-body world and digs deep to steal one with a pretty good chance.”
Gordon became the seventh player in NBA history to open a season with 50 points, and tied the season-opening record with 10 made 3-pointers. That was three more than he had ever scored in a single game.
But it wasn’t enough, thanks to Curry’s late play.
“It sucks,” Gordon said. “They asked me if I wanted a game ball. No, I don’t want an L. It sucks. But this is one game. Our first game.”
When Curry got to the line with 2:42 left and made two free throws, the Warriors trailed by seven points. On the next descent, he was fouled on a 3-point shot, but after encouraging the crowd to make some noise before heading to the line, he made all of his 3-pointers.
Curry then tied it with 1:24 left, but Gordon answered with a three of his own to put Denver up 120-117 with 25.7 seconds left.
“It’s ridiculous,” Curry said of the night Gordon shot 10 of 11 from long range. “Everything he did this summer worked.”
Curry took little time to react, using a pick-and-roll to gain space and capitalize on it to score his game-tying third goal with 21.4 seconds left.
“We had a little bit of a snake in that game and we saw a little bit of daylight,” Curry said. “I’m decisive. I don’t have to think twice about what I’m going to do.”
This shot surprised the Nuggets.
“He hit a really tough shot that sent it to OT,” Gordon said. “It’s Steph being Steph.”
Nikola Jokic missed a shot in the lane just before the buzzer sounded, sending the game into overtime. Curry led the way with seven points in the overtime session and got help from 3-pointers from Al Horford and Jimmy Butler in the victory, moving Golden State to 2-0 on the season.
After Butler’s three points in the final minute of overtime gave the Warriors a six-point lead, Curry showed off his signature “night-night” move.
The Nuggets are now going home wondering how Gordon had such an impressive night, breaking Alex English’s franchise record of 47 points in an opening game and tying Terry Rozier’s NBA record with 10 3-pointers in an opening game.
“I’m really disappointed in Aaron,” coach David Adelman said. “Aaron had a night he’ll never forget. I know he won’t. It’s a very bad loss. We had a lot of chances to win the game, we had a lot of chances to control the game. Give them credit. They’re just going to keep coming.”
